Insects have been a part of nature and of the natural ecological system of the world for many millions of years. Many different species of insects can be found throughout the world, and indeed insects are found generally anywhere there is vegetation, among other places. It therefore follows that land over much of the world, including both populated and unpopulated areas, would be home to virtually all different types of insects. Resultingly, it is inevitable that the yard of a person's home would contain many different types of insects and probably very many of each type--indeed, possibly several thousand of some types.
It is desirable in a yard and in a garden to have different types of insects, for the purpose of maintaining a natural ecological balance within the yard or garden. Unfortunately, although this natural balance of nature generally works quite well, it is sometimes subject to extraneous influencing factors, thus causing an imbalance. Such an imbalance can be illustrated by a surplus or a shortage of any one particular type of insect, and can occur for a variety of reasons, including weather conditions, food supply, an excess or shortage of predators of a certain type of insect, and so on. Unfortunately, when any of these influencing factors change and cause an upset in this natural ecological balance, a shortage or an overabundance of one or more particular type of insect can occur. Especially in the case of an overabundance of one type of insect a problem can be created in a yard or garden--a virtual infestation of insects can potentially occur. This can create a problem that can include damage, even severe damage, to many types of plants, or at the very least will be the nuisance of having large quantities--perhaps several thousands--of the insects in a yard or garden, or even invading one's home.
Over the last several years, many geographical locations in North America have had an increasingly severe problem with earwigs. These insects are not native to North America and upon their arrival in North America some decades ago, they began to flourish as they have no natural enemies in North America. Indeed, in many places in North America today the earwig population is of excessive--and almost epidemic--proportions and is causing damage and general inconvenience to hundreds of thousands--if not millions--of yards and gardens.
Earwigs are one of the most common pests in North America and the general population of earwigs is believed to be on the increase. Indeed, a female earwig lays about 60 eggs in a season and with no natural enemies, most of the young survive, thus indicating that the earwig population could potentially grow at an alarming rate.
Earwigs are known to feed on common garden flowers such as carnations, marigolds, chrysanthemums and roses as well as common garden fruits and vegetables such as raspberries, beans, carrots, corn, lettuce and the like.
Obviously, in order to preclude--or at least lessen--the damage to one's yard or garden it is necessary to decrease such an overabundance of insects. Generally the only effective and acceptable way to decrease a large number of insects is to directly exterminate them. The most common way to exterminate insects, or at least deplete the size of an over abundant insect population, is to use chemicals, generally in the form of sprays or powders. Such chemicals, normally referred to as pesticides, can be sprayed in the air, either inside a home or outside, to kill flying insects, or can be sprayed onto vegetation to kill insects that more commonly remain on the ground or on vegetation. More natural methods, such as introducing predators, are often unacceptable if not possible.
In order to protect vegetation such as flowers, plants, and trees, it is quite common to spray such vegetation with pesticides so that any insects eating the vegetation would ingest the chemical and subsequently die. In the last few years, however, the use of pesticides to kill insects has become increasingly undesirable due to environmental concerns. It can also be somewhat costly since the pesticides may have to be reapplied frequently. Further, pesticides can also be detrimental to the health of humans and animals, and also can be injurious to some forms of vegetation. For these reasons, it is desirable to use means other than pesticides to exterminate insects.
It is especially undesirable to use pesticides to kill earwigs because earwigs are less effected by pesticides than are most other insects. Indeed, it is recommended that the pesticide used to kill earwigs have a concentration of about nine times that used for general purpose insect killing. Thus, the hazard to the environment, danger to humans, and harshness to plants is very substantially increased, therefore making the use of pesticides to kill earwigs very undesirable. Further, earwigs move freely about and the application of pesticide in a yard or garden is therefore only a temporary solution.
Due to the very large population of earwigs that is quickly increasing and the amount of damage that can be done by a large number of earwigs that might inhabit any yard or garden, it is highly desirable that earwigs generally be exterminated, preferably by a means other than pesticide use.
It is well known that earwigs rest during the day and forage at night when it is cooler and dark. An earwig's preferred resting place during the day is a place that is relatively snug--that is to say that the earwigs are in intimate contact with whatever is surrounding them--and also a place that is generally dark. It is also known that earwigs tend to congregate with their own species. It is quite common to find groups of earwigs of perhaps 20 or even 50 in number in one place--especially if that place provides an ideal snug and dark surrounding for the earwig. Preferably, a means for exterminating earwigs would include an earwig collector that would take advantage of the fact that earwigs prefer a snug dark place to rest in, and also would allow for the collection of several earwigs at a time.